More User Reviews:

Darkness screams “Porter!”—the tan head does as well. Roasty nose and some nougat sweetness, but roasty all the way with dark chocolate and some coffee. Moderate body wavers, small push of smoothness. Acrid twang is not im- mensely harsh, but makes itself known with each sip. Fruity, with a hint of alcoholic esters. Yeasty back end. Roasted flavors pull hard on the palate with a harshness that does not let go until the dry finish. Coffee and roasted aspects of the beer are a bit too strong, which tears away at the drinkability.

A - Well, first off, I barely cracked the seal when cocoa colored foam started rushing out. Luckily it only got on the counter and in the sink. Once things settled down, and I managed to pour it in my glass it was dark as night. Absolutely no light penetrated this pour. I ended up with two fingers of cocoa brown head.

S - Once the head started pouring out the top of the bottle I immediately noticed a sour smell. Being not one to be wasteful I pressed on. I noticed some chocolate and coffee notes and a robust roastiness.

T - Although fearful of an infected beer I took a sip. It was sour, but the roasted malts still came through. I got some chocolate and bitter coffee. The sourness cut the bitterness of the roasted malt.

M - Medium and pretty smooth.

O - It was an interesting beer. Although obviously infected, I thought it was somewhat enjoyable and different. I reminded me of something Jolly Pumpkin would do. The sourness and roasted flavors worked decent together. I normally wouldn't have rated an infected beer, but even infected, it was interesting.

From the website - A robust coffee porter infused with the finest mocha beans. Subtle tones of roasted barley work their way into this smooth finish porter. A certain someone endorsed the brew with joyous song and dance.

Interesting, the label on the bottle being reviewed doesn't mention coffee. But the picture is the same as the web site.

Poured into a New Holland Pint glass.

Pours an opaque black, no light gets through this one, with a dark tan head that does not last.

Aromas of roasted malt, and coffee. Some sweet malt, but no hops to speak of.

First sip is more sweet stout-like, roasted, sweet malt, with no hops flavor coming through. A mild roasted coffee flavor comes through at the end. A little carbonic bite from overcarbonation.

Mouthfeel is thin, not watery. A little prickle of carbonation.

Very drinkable, this would make a nice session beer over a game of darts.

I picked up a bottle of Frog Island's Porter a week ago for $6.99 at Boyne Country Provisions. I've never tried anything from this brewery and I don't know anything about them, but I'm always down to give a new Michigan brewery a try, so lets see how it goes. No visible bottling date. Poured from a brown 22oz bottle into an imperial pint glass.

A- The label looks pretty good, it's got a nice drawing of a weird wizard looking dude that looks cool and it's pretty eye catching. It poured a nice looking dark black color that didn't let any light come through with two and a half fingers worth of fluffy darker tan head that died down to a thin ring that stayed till the end and left some nice rings of lacing behind. This is a good looking porter, it's a little darker than most porters, but I don't think that hurts it, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness followed by a fruity and slightly tart aroma, no one fruit seems to stick out the most but the aroma kind of reminds me of cherrys. Up next comes the malts which impart a sweet, roasted, chocolate, toffee, caramel, and slight coffee like aroma. The aroma was ok, it wasn't bad, but the fruity aromas threw me off a little and aren't that true to the style.

T- The taste seems to be a little similar to the aroma and it starts off with a medium amount of sweetness followed by a slight bit of bitterness with a somewhat lighter tart fruity taste that is a little cherry and apple cider like, but it's quickly overpowered by the dark malts that impart a roasted, sweet, light caramel, light toffee and a good amount of chocolate flavors that seem to stick out the most. On the finish there's a little bit of sweetness followed by a roasted malt aftertaste. The taste was nice, but I think it would have been better with out that slightly tart fruity aspect.

M- Pretty smooth, a little crisp, pretty creamy, slightly sticky, a little chewy on the lighter side of being full bodied, with a good amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel was nice and it worked well with this beer.

Overall I thought this was a nice beer and decent example of the style, it seemed to be right on the border between a stout and porter and I think it would be hard to tell them apart but it's still a little rough around the edges to be considered one of the better Michigan made Porters. This beer had ok drinkability, it was smooth, creamy, and the flavors did a decent job at holding my attention, but i think the slight tart fruit aspect would prevent me from drinking more than one, one bottle seems like a little more than enough for me. What I liked the most about this beer was the deep and rich roasted malt aspect, it was pretty nice. What I liked the least about this beer was the tart fruit aspect, it was unneeded and the it was a little off for the style. I would for sure order this at a bar to see if the tart fruit aspect was from age or not, but with no bottling date I don't think I'll be buying another bottle anytime soon unless I know it's fresh. I don't know if I would recommend this beer, if it didn't have the tart fruit aspect, I would for sure recommend it. All in all I thought this was a decent beer even with the tart fruit aspect since the roasted malts seemed to overpower it, but it's far and away from the best Porter I have had and Founders Porter is still my favorite Michigan made Porter. This made for a decent first impression for Frog Island and I would be down to try more of their beers, but I would prefer to have them on draft. Nice work guys, i'll have to keep an eye out for of your beers.

22oz bottle. Pours like a standard porter, deep clear brown with an off white head. Aromas of roasted malts and milk chocolate are present in the nose. In the taste, mild sweet roasted malt and cocoa are there upfront and finishes with a small coffee like bitterness. Mouthfeel is on the light side of medium bodied, thin and overall quite easily drinkable.

Pours a dark with a mocha brown head. Lacing is slight, and retention isn't the greatest.

The aroma is faint with roastiness to it and some dark malt.

The taste is considerably mild and rounded. It has near double the flavor in the aftertaste. At first you mostly get a hint of dark malt. After that the roastiness and caramel malt comes out. There's a very small hint of candy sweetness as well. It's a bit bubblegum like.

The body is light but full. Carbonation is a tad more aggressive than I'd like it. The finish is mildly dry and moderately sticky.

Overall, it wasn't a bad porter. The price isn't all too bad, but for the same I can get Founders Porter, or Edmund Fitzgerald. I just can't justify getting something lighter on flavor for a higher price. It is worth trying, and I suspect others could like it more than I, but I don't see myself picking it up again.

My first beer from this brewery. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It was consistent and carried a thick character that showed roasted tones and lots of malts. Smooth feel and an easy drinker. A pretty nice beer and a pleasure to drink. Funny kinda label.

Pours black/dark brown with a big, fluffy head. Retention is good and lacing is strong. Couldn't look any better.

Smells roasted and light, almost yeasty.

Taste isn't as nice as the nose. Mouthfeel is very carbonated. Easy to drink, but certainly needs to approach room temprature before it feels like a nice porter. Lacked the chocolate and coffee flavors that I love in a good porter. As another review indicated, it had an acridic flavor that really took away from the enjoyment of the taste.

It's an average porter that I would drink again, but I won't be rushing out to buy again.